Links Daily Devotional

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November 28, 2014

Threads of Righteousness, Lesson 13: Faithfulness

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.” (Job 19:25, ESV)

Henrik Stenson was hardly the first player to have overcome a deep drop in his world rankings only to forge a remarkable return. But the 2013 FedExCup and Race to Dubai champion had plummeted into mediocrity and uncertainty after winning the Players Championship in 2009. That victory pushed Stenson to fourth in the world. It also sent him off an unforeseen precipice.

Stenson’s low actually began in the spring ahead of his big win at TPC Sawgrass. A large portion of his personal wealth was tied up in investments with Stanford Financial; when it was discovered that the company had moved money through an intricate Ponzi scheme, investors like Stenson found that their savings were gone. Then came the golf slump, and by the beginning of 2012 Stenson found himself at 230th in the world.

We might do well to in some ways compare Stenson with Job, that old patriarch of Scripture who lost his home, his holdings, even his family but for his wife. And when she told him to “curse God and die,” he had essentially lost her as well.

From the place of material blessing, Job fell quite literally into the dirt. He scraped the boils from his body and clung to the slightest of hopes.

When this is our lot, we might wish for friends to come to our aid. More likely, as in the case of Job, they come as advisors: do this, do that, you’ll get through it. They mean well, but they cannot persevere for you. You must open your eyes to God yourself.

Henrik Stenson gives no indication of biblical faith, but his insight for getting past the worst of times is meaningful. After his win at the Tour Championship to secure the FedExCup, Stenson said, “There comes a point when you say ‘enough is enough’ and then you start working on the long-term stuff rather than chasing your tail trying to find something that should work for this week or next week.”

Here is perseverance: an undying vision for what can be, even if it’s far in the future. Job never lost sight of the nature of God. “In the end, my Redeemer will stand,” he told his friends. And in attending to that standing God, Job was able to stand each day, one day after another, until his enduring faith was rewarded.

Today’s writer

Jeff Hopper is the editor of the Links Daily Devotional and COO of Links Players International. He played two years of college golf and now gets out about three times a month, except in the spring when he spends his afternoons coaching a local high school team.